Slide 1:Evolution – a Theory in Crisis Part 1 of 3 The Scientific Bankruptcy of Darwinian Evolution Also available: Part 2 of 3 – The Philosophical Bankruptcy of Darwinian Evolution Part 3 of 3 – The Biblical Creation Alternative & Its ImplicationsSlide 2:Richard Dawkins “No qualified scientist doubts evolution is a fact.” 700 Scientists dissent: “We are sceptical of claims for the ability of random mutation and natural selection to account for the complexity of life.” http://www.dissentfromdarwin.org/Slide 3:Charles Darwin (1809-1882) ‘Natural selection’Slide 4:Definition of Evolution? Variation within a ‘kind’ or ‘prototype’?Slide 5:Relatives?Slide 6:Darwinian evolution’s ‘tree of life’Slide 7:A caricature of the ‘creation model’Slide 8:The actual creation modelSlide 9:Small changes (micro-evolution) + Millions of years = Big changes (macro-evolution) The central Darwinian ClaimSlide 10:Slide 11:A sample of what’s involved • Evolve a 4th chamber in its heart • Evolve mammary glands and a milk supply • Evolve a hair covering • Evolve a temperature control system • Evolve a corti in the inner ear • Evolve a diaphragm To turn into a mammal, a reptile must:Slide 12:Carl Sagan’s challenge: “Extraordinary claims demand extraordinary proof.” (1934 – 1996)Slide 13:Outline • 14 ‘Proofs’ dismissed • 8 Problems discussed • 3 Pathways discoveredSlide 14:Proof No. 1 The Giraffe J. Baptiste de Lamarck (1744-1829) “Inheritance of acquired characteristics”Slide 15:The Natural History Museum - LondonSlide 16:Proof No. 2 Dog Breeding Variations between dogs tell us nothing about where dogs came from in the first place. Slide 17:Proof No. 3 Galapagos Finches Variations between finches tell us nothing about where finches came from in the first place. Slide 18:Proof No. 4 The Horse sequence ‘‘The family tree of the horse is beautiful and continuous only in the textbooks.’’ - Heribert-Nilsson, Biologist. Slide 19:Proof No. 5 - Peppered Moths Population shifts between light and dark moths tell us nothing about where the moths came from in the first place. Slide 20:Proof No. 6 The Fruit Fly Variations between fruit flies tell us nothing about where fruit flies came from in the first place. Slide 21:Darwin’s “three great classes of facts” 1. Similar Body Structure (homology) 2. Similar Embryonic Development 3. Rudiments (vestigial organs)Slide 22:Darwin’s claim: Structural similarity proves common ancestry. Proof No. 7 Homology Rat Dog Horse Bat Mole Porpoise Man Slide 23:Claim: arms evolved from pectoral fins  Claim: legs evolved from pelvic fins  Or does it?Slide 24:Proof No. 8 Similar Embryonic Development Ernst Haeckel (1834-1919)Slide 25:Darwin’s ‘marvelous fact’… …is actually fiction.Slide 26:Proof No. 9 Vestigial Organs The coccyx is neither functionless nor useless.Slide 27:Proof No. 10 Antibiotic Resistance in Bacteria “Resistance is gained…not by adding something, but by losing it ” – Dr. Lee Spetner Ph.DSlide 28:Proof No. 11 Sickle Cell Anemia This haemoglobin mutation tells us nothing about where haemoglobin came from in the first place.Slide 29:Proof No. 12 Molecular similarity Anomalies: • Chimp & human - 7.7% diff. • No. of chromosomes • Amount of DNA • Distance between proteinsSlide 30:Proof No. 13 ArchaeopteryxSlide 31:The Hoatzin Young Hoatzins have claws on their wings for climbing.Slide 32:Proof No. 14 ‘Ape-men’ Australopithecus afarensis - ‘Lucy’Slide 33:A picture’s worth a thousand wordsSlide 34:….and a few more thousand wordsSlide 35:Proof No. 14 ‘Ape-men’ Australopithecus afarensis - ‘Lucy’Slide 36:10 Design features for Upright PostureSlide 37:Prof. Simon Conway Morris (Cambridge palaeontologist) “When discussing organic evolution the only point of agreement seems to be: ‘It happened.’ Thereafter, there is little consensus…” (Evolution: Bringing Molecules into the Fold, Cell 100, (Jan 7 2000):1-11)Slide 38:8. Mathematics/Probability 3. Natural selection’s limits 4. The Cambrian explosion 5. Lack of transitional fossils 6. Complex beginnings 7. Irreducible complexity 1. The nature of mutations 8 Problems with Darwinism: 2. The limits of mutationSlide 39:Three Pathways to a Creator •Information Complex specified information demands an intelligent designer. •Elimination Only 4 options. •Revelation Evidences that God has spoken.Slide 40: ‘‘We take the side of [neo-Darwinian] science in spite of the patent absurdity of some of its constructs, in spite of its failure to fulfil many of its extravagant promises of health and life, in spite of the tolerance of the scientific community for unsubstantiated just-so stories, because we have a prior commitment, a commitment to materialism. It is not that the methods and institutions of science somehow compel us to accept a material explanation of the phenomenal world, but, on the contrary, that we are forced by our a priori adherence to material causes to create an apparatus of investigation and a set of concepts that produce material explanations, no matter how counter-intuitive, no matter how mystifying to the uninitiated. Moreover, that materialism is an absolute, for we cannot allow a Divine Foot in the door.’’ (Billions and billions of demons, The New York Review, January 9, 1997, p. 31). Harvard geneticist Richard Lewontin